OFFICIALS and staff of the Quezon City government have completed intensive training on disaster management, giving the city a deeper pool of emergency managers.
About 60 staff members from various departments and offices attached to the city’s disaster risk reduction and management office or DRRMO underwent week-long training courses on rapid earthquake damage assessment system or Redas and level 2 of the incident command system.
The two training courses were conducted separately in Antipolo City, Rizal by trainers from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and the Office of Civil Defense.
“Conducting drills and raising public awareness on the need to be ready for the ‘Big One’ is just one part of the equation. The training courses are meant to equip the DRRM structure with professionals who know how to assess and act should the inevitable comes,” DRRMO chief Karl Michael Marasigan said.
“The Big One” refers to a powerful earthquake that is expected to hit Luzon, including wide areas in Quezon City, should the West Valley Fault move. At least nine QC barangays sit on the fault line.
One of the resource speakers was Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum, also undersecretary of the Department of Science and Technology, who discussed how to handle the rapid earthquake damage assessment system.
The system is a computer simulation software that can give a rapid estimate of the possible seismic hazards should a large and potentially damaging earthquake occur. Phivolcs developed the software through a grant from DoST.
“Redas aims to provide quick earthquake hazard information to disaster managers which will help them in assessing the impact of a strong earthquake. This could help DRRM managers decide and prioritize the deployment of timely rescue and relief operations,” Marasigan said.
The city government also conducted a training on level 2 incident command system.
“Our training and education programs are continuing as part of Mayor Herbert Bautista’s desire to invest heavily on public safety. He wants Quezon City to have all the tools needed to ensure the safety of our people and to be effective, the city government should have the right people to make the system, infrastructure and resources work,” Marasigan said.